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I don’t use any specific method and I did not have any predisposed idea of any natural horsemanship until 4 weeks ago.

I grew up on a TB horse stud and have ridden my whole life, I’ve ridden all types of horses and disciplines, I now break in my own ponies. I though I was equipped to handle a Parelli horse, what ever that may entail. Because it can’t be that bad? can it? LOL I am a small female, am very kind and gentle with my horses. I don’t react to things they do and have had great bonds and respect with all of my horses over the years.

I purchased a horse who was supposed to be the quietest horse they have ever had!! I was told he had done Parelli level 2, started level 3. I had no awareness of what that was and thought it could only be of benefit to the horse.

I asked the seller if the Parelli made any difference to his handling and they said no, it only enhanced him. So I purchased him for a decent sum of money.

The truck driver had problems with him when he was transported and told me on the phone he was the pushiest horse he has ever had on the truck?! Alarm bells rang, but I gave the benefit of the doubt.

On arrival he was hungry (pretty poor condition) and just ate. The next day some of his issues became apparent. He was quite pushy on the ground and had a definite issue with his head. I tried to put a fly mask on him and he just threw his head up and ran backwards. I did get it on in the end.

Trying to put the bridle on was the same he just threw his head up, but I bridled him each time and was wise to his tricks. As the week wore on his little quirks became more and more apparent. I was beginning to see why they kept him so skinny, to dull his behaviour ;-(

He had constant issues with me approaching his side and would jump sideways and try to spin in circles away from me. Putting the saddle cloth and saddle on was almost a two person job and he refused to tie and would pull back. Forget trying to put a rug on him. The owner told me that grooming is a dominate thing so I had to be stronger, then she told me I was being to strong and he was being submissive to me? All in the same email. I was confused so no wonder the horse is.

He was lovely to ride and I was positive that with my experience I could work with him. I am very open to all sorts of things and listen to lots of people, farriers, old timers, instructors, vets etc etc. Anyone who I think I can learn from. Then I take different bits to work with different horses, because no two horses are the same. Every horse will need a slightly different approach.

This horse panics under pressure and bucked me off, so now I am attempting to send him back to his owner. Mainly because I have some pre existing injuries and just can not have a horse who will buck. But secondly because I just don’t feel I should have to be taking such an expensive horse right back to basic horse handling, like a unbroken youngster. But if he stays with me, that is exactly what I am going to have to do. I can easily see the process taking over 6 months with how damaged he is, I certainly will never ride him again until he is working to an exacting standard on the ground.

I had a vet come and assess him, to check for pain etc. The vet found him just as difficult and unpredictable as I have. He just ran in circles away from the vet, who was trying to take his heart rate. And ran away when the vet even tried to just run his hands over him in the first minute. The horse acts scared and I just could not figure out why, with everything I had been told about this perfect horse and all his training.

It began to dawn on me that this horse probably was fine with his previous owner, but the horse needed to be with someone who understood and used the Parelli methods.

I then saw the video that Bliss posted the other day and I think she also posted on your other question. Watching that footage made me sick to the core. Now I can understand what this horse has endured. If that is how he has been handled using the Parelli methods. My fairly tough farmer husband watched the video and said it should be banded and they need to be reported. A man who has no undying love for horses, but thought the methods were cruel and unnecessary.

So I guess my point to you is, don’t think that learning one method with horses will make you a good horse trainer, handler, rider etc. Learn as much as you can, from every source you can. Even if the lesson learned is to NOT do certain things. You will become a well rounded and compassionate horse handler.

As for me and my horse, I half hope he stays with me because I would like to work with him once my injuries have improved. The other half would just like to go and purchase the nice educated dressage horse that I was originally looking for ;-( And not damaged goods from the Parelli school of ? I don’t know what it is.

Oh and I must point out that this horse was not..

I don’t use any natural horsemanship and don’t agree with most of it. The stuff I do agree with is basically present in any sort of training, anyway. I use traditional methods of basic training and then specific methods for my discipline(s)–Western Pleasure and Hunter Under Saddle. If necessary, I’ll use a training aid (like a fork) to help teach my horse something, but for the most part I don’t use anything like that because my horse doesn’t need it.

Then again, my trainer did start an obsession among several people at our barn with laying horses down using a rope on one leg–they did two today while I was out there, and apparently we’re going to try it with mine soon. It does teach them submission, though it isn’t something I’ve ever tried. Should be interesting .

Since it is not natural for a horse to carry a rider there is really no such thing as natural horsemanship. The natural way for a horse is different to what man has made and called natural. I train a horse to carry it’s rider because it is subservient to the human it carries.

One thing I have to say is natural horsemanship isn’t natural. No horsemanship is natural. Interacting with any animal isn’t natural. That, of course, doesn’t mean it’s bad. Natural horsemanship is just a different training method.

Natural horsemanship involves training of humans to read the language of horses, or to understand their "nature", in order to gain their cooperation. Unfortunately, it is very hard to train humans to do anything other than what they already think they know how to do.
I try to learn from any and every trainer who has found a way to gain cooperation from horses without resistance, and without my having to use devices and tools that can potentially induce pain in order to gain that cooperation. There is a huge difference between using tools to avoid inflicting pain, and using those that do inflict pain in order to gain cooperation. I believe that is what natural horsemanship is all about, and we have come a long way to achieving those goals already. All of the NH masters out there today have valuable methods for all of us to learn from. I think every one is worth studying and listening to.
Natural horsemanship is in every way natural, when you understand the definition of natural as it applies to the concept.